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Categories: Biology: Botany, Environmental: Biodiversity
Published Reef pest feasts on 'sea sawdust'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have uncovered an under the sea phenomenon where coral-destroying crown-of-thorns starfish larvae have been feasting on blue-green algae bacteria known as 'sea sawdust'.
Published Discovery of a hybrid lineage offers clues to how trees adapt to climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The discovery of a hybrid population of poplar trees in western Wyoming has provided insight into how natural hybridization informs the evolution of many plant species, according to researchers. They also said their discovery suggests that genetic exchange between species may be critical for adaptation to environmental change.
Published Research tracks 66 million years of mammalian diversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has examined the fossil record going back 66 million years and tracked changes to mammalian ecosystems and species diversity on the North American continent.
Published Logged forests can still have ecological value -- if not pushed too far
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have analysed data from 127 studies to reveal 'thresholds' for when logged rainforests lose the ability to sustain themselves. The results could widen the scope of which forests are considered 'worth' conserving, but also show how much logging degrades forests beyond the point of no return.
Published Nature-based solutions to disaster risk from climate change are cost effective
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new global assessment of scientific literature finds that nature-based solutions (NbS) are an economically effective method to mitigate risks from a range of disasters -- from floods and hurricanes to heatwaves and landslides -- which are only expected to intensify as Earth continues to warm.
Published Scientists use machine learning to predict diversity of tree species in forests
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers used machine learning to generate highly detailed maps of over 100 million individual trees from 24 sites across the U.S. These maps provide information about individual tree species and conditions, which can greatly aid conservation efforts and other ecological projects.
Published Local dragonflies expose mercury pollution patterns
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has unveiled surprising findings about mercury pollution: where it comes from and how it moves through the environment vary significantly depending on the ecosystem. In drier regions, most mercury is deposited through rain and snow. In wetter, forested areas, gaseous mercury from the air sticks to leaves, which then fall and carry the toxin into the ground.
Published History shows that humans are good for biodiversity... sometimes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Humans have been an important driver of vegetation change over thousands of years, and, in some places, had positive impacts on biodiversity, according to a new study.
Published Loss of oxygen in lakes and oceans a major threat to ecosystems, society, and planet
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Oxygen is a fundamental requirement of life, and the loss of oxygen in water, referred to as aquatic deoxygenation, is a threat to life at all levels. In fact, researchers describe how ongoing deoxygenation presents a major threat to the stability of the planet as a whole.
Published Building a roadmap to bioengineer plants that produce their own nitrogen fertilizer
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Nitrogen fertilizers make it possible to feed the world's growing population, but they are also costly adn harm ecosystems. However, a few plants have evolved the ability to acquire their own nitrogen with the help of bacteria, and a new study helps explain how they did it, not once, but multiple times.
Published Study examines urban forests across the United States
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tree-planting campaigns have been underway in the United States, especially in cities, as part of climate mitigation efforts given the many environmental benefits of urban forests. But a new study finds that some areas within urban forests in the U.S., may be more capable than trees growing around city home lawns in adapting to a warmer climate.
Published Unprecedented warming threatens Earth's lakes and their ecosystems
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Lakes, with their rich biodiversity and important ecological services, face a concerning trend: rapidly increasing temperatures. A recent study by limnologists and climate modelers reveals that if current anthropogenic warming continues until the end of this century, lakes worldwide will likely experience pervasive and unprecedented surface and subsurface warming, far outside the range of what they have encountered before.
Published How plant cold specialists can adapt to the environment
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Evolutionary biologists studied spoonworts to determine what influence genome duplication has on the adaptive potential of plants. The results show that polyploids -- species with more than two sets of chromosomes -- can have an accumulation of structural mutations with signals for a possible local adaptation, enabling them to occupy ecological niches time and time again.
Published Researchers create groundbreaking cotton quality model to aid farmers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have produced a cotton quality module -- a part of a larger forecasting tool -- allowing cotton producers to better monitor crop quality under changing environmental conditions.
Published Mapping the world's fungi from air samples
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have found that the key to a quick and cost-effective mapping of biodiversity has been right in front of our eyes all along, but at the same time invisible -- i.e., in the air that surrounds us.
Published Wild plants and crops don't make great neighbors, research finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Native plants and non-native crops do not fare well in proximity to one another, attracting pests that spread diseases in both directions, according to two new studies.
Published Not so simple: Mosses and ferns offer new hope for crop protection
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Mosses, liverworts, ferns and algae may offer an exciting new research frontier in the global challenge of protecting crops from the threat of disease.
Published Tackling the challenge of coca plant ID: Wild vs cultivated for cocaine
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new paper reveals that it's not as straightforward as it might seem. Despite decades of data collection by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which has been valuable to monitor changes in areas occupied by illegal coca plantations in South America, there is no reliable scientific method to distinguish between different types of coca plants.
Published Archaeologists report earliest evidence for plant farming in east Africa
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A trove of ancient plant remains excavated in Kenya helps explain the history of plant farming in equatorial eastern Africa, a region long thought to be important for early farming but where scant evidence from actual physical crops has been previously uncovered.
Published Study examines tree adaptability to climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Many trees could expand their ranges by more than 25 percent based on their potential temperature tolerances.